I want to be emperor

Chapter 106 The Business of Fenghe Firm

After hearing this, Li Siyuan, a middle-aged man in brocade clothes, chuckled: "That's right, it's well-founded. It seems that you've worked hard."

"We can't do this kind of big business with Funiu Mountain for long. Even if the officers and soldiers didn't drive them back to the mountains, once they spent all the money they got, they would even search the countryside they controlled. , and it is impossible to maintain such a large-scale business with so much money now.”

"After all, the Song family doesn't exist everywhere, and it's not like after copying a Song family, another Song family will emerge tomorrow."

"However, even if they spend all the money they have on hand, as long as they still control these places outside the mountain, they will be able to collect money and food continuously, and it will be a big deal for a long time."

Speaking of this, Li Siyuan took a deep breath and said, "But, I'm afraid they won't be able to last long just relying on what they are doing now."

"When Shi Wenbin comes, you should talk to him first to see how brave they are and how much money they have."

"As long as they have money in hand, we'll sell as much as they want!"

"Strive to empty their pockets. Anyway, we don't earn the money, and several other firms have to earn it."

"After they have these goods, they can get more guns to support them for a longer period of time, and then our business can continue."

Li Xiumin said: "What Uncle San said is very true. This time we have a great chance. I have already tested Shi Wenbin's tone when I was in Xiangyang. They are currently in short supply of iron and gunpowder raw materials. As long as they have goods, they will basically come. Those who don’t refuse, even if the price is double the market price, they dare to eat it.”

"The business of sulfur and saltpeter is the housekeeping skill of our Fenghe Trading Company. Looking at the whole of Chubei, there is no other company that can gather so much iron, saltpeter, and sulfur for them in a short period of time. It has done at least three to five times better. profit."

"Although our family didn't make a lot of iron materials before, our family also has a mine in Daye. If the stock is not enough, we will transfer the goods with those in Daye. Although the goods are a bit more expensive, we only need to transport them to Nanyang and change hands. , deducting expenses such as shipping costs, there should be more than double the profit."

"This time we have great confidence in emptying their pockets."

"After they have these goods, they will definitely be able to last longer. At that time, they may be able to control more places. At that time, they will have money on hand. Even if the scale is not as good as it is now, they can continue to do it!"

"Thieves are everywhere now, but there are quite a few who use guns on a large scale like them. If possible, the business on Funiu Mountain should be maintained as much as possible."

Li Siyuan said: "That's why I brought you here in person. If you stay in Xiangyang and talk to Shi Wenbin, you won't be able to see their details."

"Okay, this matter is settled like this. When Shi Wenbin comes over, we can talk to him in detail. It is best to talk to Luo Zhixue, who is in charge of them. I heard that Luo Zhixue was born as a scholar, and it is more convenient for scholars to talk about it. It's not like Shi Wenbin, who was born in a cashier, smells like copper, and cares about everything."

After Li Xiumin nodded, he looked at Li Qingdian with a trace of curiosity: "According to the clues we know, their general Luo Zhixue was not only a scholar, but also a refugee before a thief. More importantly, Not too old."

"Although Shi Wenbin didn't say it clearly before, what he meant was that Luo Zhixue should be less than twenty years old."

"Tsk tsk, it's extremely rare to be able to do such a career at such a young age, although the person behind will inevitably be defeated and killed like those gangster leaders."

"And if you look at the soldiers he trains, at least half of them use muskets. There are so many muskets used, not to mention that ordinary thieves can't compare, even officers and soldiers can't match."

Li Xiumin came here with his third uncle this time. Apart from confirming with his own eyes the payment ability of the Township Protection Army and whether it was worthwhile for Fenghe Commercial Bank to use a large number of contacts and funds to gather a large number of strategic materials, another reason was that he had a deep love for Luo Zhixue. He and the Township Protection Army are more curious.

They, Fenghe Commercial Bank, have been in contact with people from Funiu Mountain for several months. In the past few months, these people from Funiu Mountain secretly came to purchase gunpowder raw materials, iron materials and other prohibited materials. Fenghe Commercial Bank did not pay much attention at first. .

There are a lot of thieves sneaking here to purchase prohibited materials, not least the Funiu Mountain family.

However, as the amount of gunpowder and gunpowder raw materials purchased by people from Funiu Mountain increased, it finally attracted the attention of Fenghe Commercial Bank.

Because the amount purchased by Funiushan's family alone is comparable to the sum of the purchases of other thieves, and even larger than the amount purchased by the government gunpowder workshop in Xiangyang Prefecture.

Up to now, they have become the largest single customer of Fenghe Commercial Bank in the northern Chu and southern Henan regions, and they have also learned that the thieves in Funiu Mountain are still mainly firearms.

This will naturally cause Fenghe Commercial Bank to attach great importance to it. Li Siyuan, the big shopkeeper, had talked with Shi Wenbin in person when he was still in Xiangyang.

Faced with such a big client, Li Siyuan and Li Xiumin, uncles and nephews, wished to personally advise Luo Zhixue so that Luo Zhixue could persist longer, occupy more territory, scoop up more money, and finally purchase all kinds of products from their firm at high prices. class of strategic materials.

Don't be curious about their thinking. After all, their Fenghe merchants have a great career, not only raising a large group of various guys, but also the elders of the family who are officials in Jinling and a large number of clansmen in Wuchang. With the profit of the commercial bank maintaining huge expenses, and at the same time for the normal operation of the commercial bank, Fenghe Commercial Bank spends a huge amount of money every year to manage it up and down.

Otherwise, how could it be possible to do business in saltpeter, sulfur, iron materials, and various other strategic materials, and also become a raw material supplier for many government ordnance workshops in Huguang, and by the way, in Henan and Shaanxi.

If they don't take money to open the way, even if their elders are big officials, they can't do it. No matter how big the official is, they have to follow the rules!
Not to mention other places, but the filial piety of officials from all over Chubei is indispensable.

As a collateral clan sent by the family to take charge of Fenghe Commercial Bank, Li Siyuan's nephew and uncle are also under great pressure.

Every day when I wake up, I have to think about how to increase the profitability of the firm.

And although their Fenghe Commercial Bank has a lot of business, the most profitable business is the strategic material business, especially doing business with thieves...

Some of the thieves also used artillery and guns in their wars, but they used less, which made the people of Fenghe Trading Co., Ltd. always have a headache.

Because there seem to be many thieves in the north, hundreds of thousands at every turn, but the iron market is okay, but the gunpowder market is still difficult to open...

Those thieves basically don't know how to use artillery and guns, and only a few big thieves have a few guns on hand.

This is not in the interest of their Fenghe firm!
For Fenghe Trading Company, the best thing is that the government fights with guns, and the thieves also fight with guns.

And whether it's thieves or officers and soldiers, it's best to use guns and cold weapons made of their iron materials, and the gunpowder used is made of saltpeter and sulfur raw materials provided by their families.

In this way, uncle and nephew Li Siyuan can wake up laughing from their dreams!

Based on these reasons, it was no wonder that Li Siyuan, Li Xiumin's uncle and nephew were interested in the Xiangbao Army and Luo Zhixue, and even came here in person.

They are actually also very curious why the Rural Protection Army uses guns on a large scale, which is different from other thieves.

At this time, Li Siyuan also looked at an open space not far from the pier. In that open space was a group of soldiers in gray military uniforms protecting the countryside.

This [-]-strong rural protection army is not here to monitor or guard against the caravan of Fenghe Trading Company.

In fact, these more than 100 soldiers belonging to the First Infantry Battalion have followed this caravan all the way north since the day before yesterday, and it was to protect them...

Although the goods in the Fenghe caravan are still from the Fenghe caravan for the time being, in fact, the rural protection army has already given a part of the deposit, not to mention that these things are all kinds of military supplies that the rural protection army urgently needs. supplies.

In case some unsightly thieves suddenly appeared and attacked them, the township guards would cry to death...

Therefore, since the caravan of Fenghe Trading Company entered the control area of ​​the rural protection army, Huang Dingquan, who was leading the battle in the front, simply sent more than 100 people to protect them.

In order to avoid trouble, they would not approach them, but just followed them, and even sent scouts to help them explore and open the way...

It can be described as a full escort service!
Along the way, the Li family's nephew and uncle also carefully observed the bandits of the Township Protection Army. There was nothing else to say. What really caught their attention was that half of the 100-strong banditry were musketeers.

This shows that in the bandit army of the Township Protection Army, the proportion of musketeers is very high, at least half of them.

And what does this mean?
Because of the vast market!

If possible, the uncle and nephew of the Li family wished that all the thieves of the rural protection army were musketeers, and they would conduct live-ammunition training all day long, so that they would shoot outside without money.

It's best to get a lot of cannons, and let them play if you have nothing to do.

Then their Fenghe Trading Company can make a lot of money day by day!

Unfortunately, even the Li family's uncle and nephew knew that this was impossible.

What they can do now is to make as much money as possible from the recent looting by the Township Protection Army.

Then count on the township protection army to support it for a longer period of time, it is best to occupy more territory, loot a few more tyrants or lay down a certain city, and get enough money to continue the business with their Fenghe firm.

For this reason, the uncle and nephew of the Li family also provided Shi Wenbin with a piece of news for free, which was unknown to the outside world and was only circulated among high-level officials in Nanyang Prefecture for the time being: Township Army.

The purpose of disclosing this news is very simple, the uncle and nephew of the Li family don't want to see the rural protection army finished in ten days and half a month.

Even if it was going to be over, Fenghe Trading Company had to make enough money before it was over.

After Shi Wenbin heard the news, he was horrified, and he couldn't care less about how to treat guests. After ordering his subordinates and Fenghe Trading Company to continue handing over the goods, he hurried across the river by boat to report to Luo Zhixue went!
(End of this chapter)